Storm brings rain and snow to the Madera County foothills

MADERA COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Friday's snowy weather prompted Yosemite Unified and Bass Lake Unified school districts to cancel classes.

This is the second day in a row for both school districts as this weather makes outside conditions difficult for people living in the area.

"We'll just have to make it up, make up a school day during the summer or something like that," said local Wyatt Lopez.

He is one of several high schoolers impacted by the canceled classes in the mountain communities.

Lopez said when his family gets snowed in, they stay indoors until it's safe.

"The last couple of days there's been quite a bit of snow. We probably got almost a fit up there, and schools have been closed the past two days so. Just kind of been snowed a little bit, but we've been able to get out today so that's been nice," said Lopez.

Snow covered the mountain tops on Friday near Oakhurst.

A welcomed sight for first-time Central Valley visitor and Philadelphia native Austin Gwiazdowski.

"It's awesome, it's beautiful. I love the way. The snow covers it, it makes it pretty beautiful," said Gwiazdowski.

He and his dad have traveled across the country for the last week. They were surprised to experience this current weather storm.

Rain poured well into the afternoon throughout Madera County.

As this rain continues, areas like Mattie Fhy Road near Coarsegold are a concern for the Madera County Sheriff's Office.

"There's still a lot of trees that I've been compromised over the years through drought, fires, and various other things that are a concern and a danger in those particular areas. Those areas also tend to be a little more prone to power outages and extreme weather at the same time," said Lieutenant Robert Blehm.

The Madera County Sheriff's Office has its teams and equipment ready to go.

Blehm encourages visitors and locals to be safe and not push the limits in this current weather.

"They will not have a realistic expectation of what their vehicles are capable of or what they're prepared to deal with, and in those instances, you can get yourself into trouble much quicker," said Blehm.

Lieutenant Blehm encourages people living in the area to visit readymadera.com as active weather is expected to pick up again next week.

For news updates, follow Vince Ybarra on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.